Mount Lavinia Hotel:

Australian Fine Wine and Cheese Festival 2010

Mount Lavinia Hotel pays tribute to the legendary Autumn Wine Festivals that is popular in Australia by launching an irresistible terrace style festival with the affiliation with the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka, which is vouched to be the greatest. Savour the wine and taste the cheese is the anthem from 25th to 28th March at the Pool Terrace of Mount Lavinia Hotel while much mixing and mingling could be observed GM Anura Dewapura said. This festival will capture everything that one would be looking forward to great wines and great Cheese, and indeed the great company of the people who really matter to us! The festival will showcase cheeses popular to Australia, including wines from Freelanka Trading.

The Festival goers can indulge in delicious goodies cooked up Down Under style and enjoy a leisurely sun down dinner on the terrace of Mount Lavinia Hotel.

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[Climate change initiatives ]

"10:10" was launched on September 1, 2009 in the UK.

The initiative encourages individuals and institutions to make a personal vow to cut their carbon emissions by 10 percent in 2010 as part of its efforts to try to stop runaway climate change.

Mount Lavinia Hotel is proud to be part of this campaign in partnership with the British High Commission and the British Council in Sri Lanka.

"As our efforts to go green are in progress programmes as such is a very simple and significant mechanism towards reducing our climate impact and we are proud to be actively supporting it." The timing of the launch of 10:10 is particularly significant to the country, as Sri Lanka is indeed the top of the list in the Visit Sri Lanka 2011 campaign.

10:10 is one of a number of initiatives intended to increase pressure for stronger, binding targets to be agreed in the efforts to reduce the carbon footprint.

Another first for Sri Lanka will also occur over the coming weeks when Mount Lavinia Hotel, will be engaging in a global call to action showing leadership and being responsible for the future by partaking in the Earth Hour Movement of 2010 dedicated for the 27th March 2010 at 8.30pm.

"A terracotta lantern will be left in all places of our property to symbolize hope and indeed to represent our support for a sustainable future," states Mr Anura Dewapura, General Manager of Mount Lavinia Hotel.

He also adds, "In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one hour and this year we have joined in too."

We are happy to partake in this worldwide campaign where we will turn off our lights and join together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common - our planet, Dewapura added.

Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. 10:10 A New campaign has been launched to urge the need for immediate action on climate change.

The Campaign dubbed 10:10 aims to get companies and individuals to commit to cutting 10 percent of their emissions in 2010.

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[ Indian tour ]

A 10 member group consisting of lifestyle media visited Mount Lavinia Hotel and was given a unique experience where they were given a familiarization tour of the historical property along with a visit to the artifact museum where the gramophone still played a classic and indeed the epitome of the MLH; secret tunnel.

They also experienced an interactive cooking session with Chef Leo who highlighted the Slow Food Cooking method that has become a signature product at MLH.

Indian food promotion

The Galadari Hotel in association with the Le Royal Meridien Hotel in Chennai have organized an Indian Food Festival which commenced on March 19.

Two chefs were flown in by Kingfisher Airlines to participate in the promotion.

The on going Indian Food Festival will be over tonight.

The festival offers authentic dishes from the South and North of India and the extensive dinner buffet has a vast variety of dishes. The Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Ashok K Kantha participated at the food festival.

The Galadari Hotel's Coffee Shop, changes its theme, décor, taste and flavour to its best of 'Indian' when the Coffee Shop once again offer guests to experience some of the delicious Indian food.

The food flavours from various parts of India in its many presentations will be prepared with authenticity by expert chefs from the Le Royal Meridien Hotel in Chennai, India.

Master Chef T. Iyappan and Chef Deepak Singh brught out hs culinary treats to the guests.

The chefs from India brought with them the finer ingredients that made up the exquisite flavours of Indian cookery.

The Dinner buffet varied daily and went all the way from starters, soups, main dishes and dessert. There were vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes to accommodate everyone.

Enjoy the delights of Tokyo:

Emirates new Japanese menu

In celebration of the launch of Emirates' new non-stop service to Tokyo from March 28, the award-winning airline has pulled out all the stops to ensure that its passengers enjoy a truly Japanese experience, even before they have arrived at Narita International Airport.

Japanese specialists at Emirates have been busy preparing a new in-flight menu for both of Emirates' routes to Japan, the non-stop Dubai to Narita and also the daily non-stop flight to Osaka.

The Japanese menu was made with carefully selected ingredients gathered from all over Japan.

It includes Koshishikari rice from Niigata, pickles from Kyoto, green tea from Shizuoka and Asakusa Nori dried seaweed, which is well-known as an Edo local product.

Adopting the most appropriate cooking method for each of these well selected ingredients, Emirates offers the new Japanese menu in all classes aboard its Tokyo and Osaka flights.

Fine tuning the Japanese menu to reflect the traditional Japanese culinary culture and accommodating the tastes of the Eastern and Western regions in Japan, is just another way that Emirates expresses its respect for regional traditions. "I am delighted to be able to offer our passengers these high quality Japanese dishes on the occasion of celebrating the Narita inaugural flight.

Emirates' in-flight meals have already been highly praised by our Japanese passengers, but the new menu will be specially made from carefully selected ingredients and the cooking methods, taste, and beautifully arranged dishes will, I am sure, satisfy not only Japanese gourmet-lovers but also other nationalities from all over the world," Emirates Flights Catering Production, Assistant Vice President James Griffith said.

In addition to the food, passengers will be looked after by Japanese-speaking cabin crew and will be able to enjoy Emirates' in-flight entertainment system ice, featuring more than 1,200 channels of entertainment including Japanese movies, music and many Hollywood films with Japanese subtitles or language dubs.

New Japanese menu: Japanese breakfast Fruit juices, Freshly pressed orange juice Fresh seasonal fruits Sakizuke Soba noodles Misoshiru Kono mono Takiawase Salmon teriyaki Tea or Coffee

Grand Ella Motel and the Kithulgala Rest House

The Grand Ella Motel is widely regarded as a honeymooner's paradise, this breathtakingly beautiful motel is situated on the Colombo-Badulla road and is blessed with a year around cool yet comfortable climate of 20-22c which can be enjoyed from any one of its 14 rooms.

Guests can also experience a breath taking view and the sumptuous cuisine, which the motel is famous for or even take a stroll in the stunning landscaped. For the more adventurous at heart, the Grand Ella Motel is also conveniently situated within close proximity to the famous Rawana Falls, temples and caves, Handapangala Elephant sanctuary and Dunhinda Falls. There is also Adam's Peak, Demodara Railway Station, Nine Arch Stone Bridge or the Ella rock to visit.

The 19 spacious air-conditioned or non air-conditioned guest rooms (20 of which have recently undergone a full refurbishment) at the Kithulgala Rest House have a lounge bar, restaurant to accommodate up to 300 persons serving both eastern and western cuisine and a choice of authentic Sri Lankan dishes during buffet lunches on the weekends, pool table, room service, laundry services, natural rock pool are amongst the facilities and services that one can enjoy to the mazimum.

Just across the river is a primeval forest with an abundance of birds, including the indigenous White Owl. Another very interesting fact about the Kithulgala Resthouse is its claim to fame as the location for David Lean's award winning movie Bridge on the River Kwai.

Kithulgala is a popular spot for white water rafting, boating, jungle trekking, outdoor camping, mountain biking, bird watching and a tour of the water falls or a dinner-a-deux in the gardens.

Kithulgala Resthouse also proves to be a convenient stop-over for lunch or dinner or an overnight stay whilst making your way up to Kandy or Nuwara Eliya.

Both properties are owned and managed by the Galle Face Hotel Group owner Sanjeev Gardiner. Chandra Mohotti is the Senior Vice President of the Leisure Division.